06) UNFAIR ELECTIONS MUST CHANGE

 

People’s Voice Editorial

 

            Yet another unfair election is over, and once again, the only party with real power to change things also has the least incentive to make democratic electoral reforms. That’s because Justin Trudeau’s Liberals won a comfortable 184-154 majority over the combined opposition parties, despite receiving only 39.5% of the popular vote. Meanwhile, the NDP received almost 3.5 million votes, half of the Liberal total, but less than one quarter as many seats (44). The Green Party’s 606,000 votes elected just one MP, while the Bloc Quebecois got 819,000 votes and enters the next parliament with 10 seats.

 

            Even these numbers are warped, since the first-past-the-post system encourages voters to pick candidates who might not share their views and policies. Both the NDP and the Greens were affected by “strategic voting”, as many people cast a ballot for Liberals deemed more likely to defeat the Harper Tories.

 

            The lack of proportional representation also skews downward the level of support for smaller parties, including the Communist Party of Canada, which has elected MPs and provincial members in the past. If casting a ballot for the Communists would help to elect some candidates, the results might resemble the Student Vote initiative, which usually sees about 3% of students vote Communist where the party is on the ballot. Under a full proportional representation system, that could translate into about ten seats in Parliament.

 

            The new PM campaigned on a promise to end the “winner take all” system, but that won’t happen without mass pressure from Canadians who want to ditch ”first-past-the-post” in favour of proportional representation. Other democratic reforms are also necessary, such as much lower spending limits and fair access to the mass media for all parties. Let’s make the best of it what might be a small window of opportunity to press for electoral reform.

 

(The above article is from the November 1-15, 2015, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading socialist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)